More than 19,000 illegal sports bets averaging 11,900 euros per bet between December 2021 and January 2024, gambling debts of nearly 38 million euros, all with money stolen from his employer… Ippei Mizuhara , former translator of Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, was charged Thursday with embezzlement of more than $16 million to the detriment of the player, American judicial authorities announced. “Mr. Mizuhara stole this money in large part to fund his voracious appetite for illegal sports betting,” said Martin Estrada, United States Attorney for the Central District of California.
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter and close friend of Ohtani, would have accompanied him in 2018, when the latter did not speak English, to a bank in Arizona, in the southwest of the United States, to open a bank for him. Bank account. The translator allegedly posed as Ohtani to encourage bankers to authorize transfers and even modified his bank details to link them to his telephone number as well as an anonymous email address. Ohtani provided his cell phone to law enforcement, who determined there was no evidence to suggest “his involvement in Mr. Mizuhara’s illegal gambling activity or the payment of his debts,” said Ohtani. the Ministry of Defense.
Ohtani, 29, was recruited at the end of 2023 by the Dodgers with a record contract of 700 million dollars (642 million euros) over ten years. The Japanese, twice elected best player (MVP) of the championship where he has been playing since 2018, shines with throwing and batting, a rare combination. Mizuhara was fired by the team in March. Aged 39, he is being prosecuted for bank fraud, punishable by a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, prosecutors said in a press release.
